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CB Attorneys and Lawyers Review of Sienna Pointe Vizslas
Sienna Pointe Vizslas

Sienna Pointe Vizslas review: Terrible experience 7

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11:14 am EDT
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In October of 2009 we allowed Cathy Gallagher, owner of Siennapointe Vizslas to take care of our Vizsla, Rally while my Wife and I recovered from medical issues. Cathy is the original breeder of our dog. In July 2007 we paid $1300 for Rally. He became part of our family but we could not care for him because my Wife had serious medical issues and I severely laserated two of my fingers in a circular saw accident.

She had my Wife transfer her half of the AKC ownership to her because she claimed it was needed to provide medical attention for Rally in case of an emergency. I was to retain my half of the ownership. She filled out the AKC paperwork leaving the co-owner information out. I never provided my signature on the AKC paperwork as required. The AKC issued her on October 24, 2008 a new certificate showing her as the owner. THis was done in error on the AKC's part.

In October Cathy Gallagher transfered, with my consent, Rally to the care of Roy and Marty Sanford her co breeders. They live near Denver, Colorado. Roy agreed to train Rally for his Senior Hunt Test. Rally is currently a Junior Hunter. I agreed because Cathy kept Rally in a crate most of the day while she had him. Roy and Marty Sanford are retired and have a lot of property for Rally to run in.

Cathy promised me this would be temporary and I would get him back in February provided my Wife felt better. She never informed me about the AKC's error making her owner. I became suspicious around March when I was told by Cathy she did not think it was the right time to return Rally to our family despite improvements in our medical conditions.

I asked Cathy to provide me a copy of the AKC paperwork showing me as co-owner. She did not comply. I called the AKC and they informed me Cathy was full owner. When I told Cathy this she became very upset at me saying I did not trust her. Cathy was sent the AKC paperwork in October and held on to it knowing they made her owner without informing me. I found out in early March.

She sent me an e mail a few days later saying she was owner as of October 24, 2008. I filed a complaint with the AKC and they added me on the AKC paperwork to show me as co-owner. I also discovered the AKC is just a registry. It is not a legal document and cannot be used to show ownership.

My Wife and I have both recovered from our medical issues and now want our dog back as promised by Ms. Gallagher. She is refusing to give our dog back

My Wife and I have a legal contract showing us as owners. It was never altered in any way. The contract and bill of sale is what determines ownership. She refused to release Rally from the care of the Sanford's despite this. We retained an attorney to try get our dog back. Our attorney gave her 72 hours to return our dog.

She informed us through her attorney she is claiming ownership because of breach of contract. In July and August we brought our dog to a boarding facility about eight days each month on some of my trips away from home. I am a pilot and was concerned about leaving Rally at home with her medical issues. The owner of the boarding facility had a cage free boarding environment and took him home with him in the evening.

Cathy claims I breached the contract because I took Rally to the boarding facility. Nowhere on the contract does it say I cannot do this. I also informed Cathy at the time and she never was concerned about it. She is now using this to lay claim on our dog because she miscalculated the AKC document thinking this was a legal way of taking ownership.

I want to warn others if they are considering a Vizsla not to get one from sienna pointe vizslas. Ms. Gallagher does not honor her contracts. She was unethical in not informing me of the AKC document. She misrepresented her intentions to my Wife in asking for her signature on the document for medical purposes when the real reason was to try to take ownership away from us. She promised us our dog when our medical situation improved. She now has a personal vendetta against us because we questioned her ethically.

She informed the Sanfords not to release Rally to us even though we are his legal owners. We paid $1300 for him and want him back. My kids ask almost everyday when we will get him back. He was a very happy, well adjusted dog when he was with us. He is a part of our family. It may take thousands of dollars in attorney fees and months before we can get him back. I do not anyone thinking of doing business with her to go through what our family has gone through.

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7 comments
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Steveblt
, US
May 26, 2016 4:01 pm EDT

Rally is 9 years old and has prostate cancer. This diagnosis normally gives him a month and as he approaches the end, he is in his 6th month. I scheduled him to be euthanized a few days ago as he was throwing up, not eating, and could not urinate normally. He is an amazing dog, because he suddenly started eating, not getting sick and urinating normally. The doctor was just as amazed as I was. Rally was not clearly ready to go. This was an appointment I was glad to cancel.

I had brought him to Cathy's before all this unfolded. She provided him with the loving care she has with all her dogs and I am eternally great full. I reached out to Cathy when Rally was diagnosed with cancer asking if she wanted to see him again. Prior to this, I sent her pictures of him throughout the time we got him back.

I was the original author of the "scam report" but unfortunately my Wife got hold of my password and wrote as if she were me, which I disapproved of. My point of the report was to deny the intent of giving Rally back to her on a permanent basis, but also to recommend an agreement whenever any breeder cared for your dog so there would be no misunderstandings.

Whatever our disagreements were, Cathy and I have reconnected. She is caring for Rally while I am away during these difficult times. I owe her so much and am honored to call her my friend.

Make no mistake, Cathy is an amazing person and a very dedicated breeder. She loves her dogs and will sacrifice much for their welfare. You are buying more than a Vizsla from her, you are buying a lifetime commitment to support you and your family in anyway she can.

I still recommend having a clear concise mutual agreement, when allowing her or anyone to take care of your dog. It protects everyone, including your dog.

Cathy and I have come full circle in our relationship. We both have forgiven and see through the past, not with bitterness, but as an opportunity to strengthen relationships. Our dogs live in the moment, forgiving in an instant, are loyal and dedicated, filled with joy, and live to please their owners/families. We has humans, have so much to learn from them. Cathy and I have shown it is possible to forgive and show compassion. We both have good reason not to do this, but we have learned from our canine friends.

Cathy's dogs are wonderful, and my family is so great full for having the time we did, and continue to have with Rally. He is a sweet boy and loves everyone he comes in contact with. Never take anything for granted, live and love as if this was your last day. Live in the moment!

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Steve Bellefontaine
Algonquin, US
Aug 13, 2012 9:24 am EDT

Anonymoussss

I can probably bet I have never met you nor have you had any contact in the past with my dog. Bless my 11 year old Daughter! She was the one who responded to your posts. She understands better than most adults that my actions were never selfish or vindictive. I simply did what was right and in the best interests of my family and Rally. I never gave our Dog or abandoned him willingly for my purposes as Anonymousssss would suggest. It was never my idea to temporarily allow Ms. Gallagher to care for him while I recovered from nearly severing two of my fingers and to allow my Wife, who was severely I'll to recover at the same time. Ms. Gallagher is the one that suggested I allow her to care for him while our family could recover. She is not allowed as a breeder to ask for monetary compensation since she is not listed as a kennel so I trained, Winston, one of her dogs for her as a form of compensation. I paid the Sanford's 50 percent of kennel fees while he was in Colorado and reimbursed Ms. Gallagher her 50 percent she paid to the Sanford's after we won the case. I did all this despite Rally being returned to us with severe right shoulder torn ligaments he suffered while away from us. It cost me thousands of dollars to properly diagnose him and provide him with the best possible care. We were told he could never hunt with him because of the injury and obvious neglect in proper diagnosis and care while he was away from our family. Does this sound selfish to you in any way? If it does you have a strange definition of reality! Rally's best interest were never really considered and he was used as a pawn because there were those that were more concerned about reputation than anything else. The jury agreed with us unanimously rendering a verdict in less than 30 minutes. I spoke to some of the jury members afterwards and they were extremely angry at Ms. Gallagher for her actions against us. Under the first amendment rights you are entitled to your opinion. Thank goodness for avenues such as this to properly exercise your rights. I respectfully disagree with your comments. The information you get is purely one sided and is tinged with prejudice. In reality only Ms. Gallagher and I really know what the truth and the events which led to the lawsuit against us. A jury having access to most of this information agreed with us and against Ms. Gallagher. It is unfortunate that some of you that continue to support Ms. Gallagher refuse to acknowledge the jury's decision. In any case Rally is happy and healthy. He gets walks every day, rain or shine. He loves our kids and he is quite spoiled! Everyone in our local Petsmart know him including Rick the trainer. You are welcome to go to the Petsmart in Algonquin and talk to Rick. He can tell you about Rally's welfare since he sees him quite frequently. I am glad you have such great support from Ms. Gallagher. She has wonderful Vizslas. Again read some of my past posts and please put things in writing when bringing your member of the family over while you are on vacation. Never place blind trust in anyone outside your family.

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deweyblt
Algonquin, US
Jan 31, 2012 9:50 pm EST

I agree with the man who wrote this. I have met Rally ( Their dog) and he is a sweet, loveable dog. I have also met his kids when they went to see Rally when he was a puppy. They loved him so much. Cant you people see that those kids were heart beoken when cathy took their dog away. He was just trying to make his kids happy, and if any of you has kids, I am sure you will understand. So in a way, that was attacking his family because if cathy had won that court case, then Rally would have been taken away, and those kids would have been eart broken. Also, the only reason he gave the dog up to cathy is because it was PARTIAL not for ever. He gave Rally to cathy to take care of whilehe and his wife could not. They intentially were going to take him back after his wife and he felt better again. So I agree with him about cathy, SHE was going to take the dog away, SHE sent him to colarodo to live with another family for TWO YEARS. Think about it, if cathy was innocent, then she would have won the court case. Give the poor man a break. He went through that whole court case and spent $23.00 dollars just to get Rally back! Would any of you have done that?

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Anonymousssss
Chicago, US
Oct 03, 2011 6:27 pm EDT

Regardless of what happened with this man and his unfortunate incident, I cannot more strongly recommend Cathy Gallagher and Sienna Pointe for those looking to buy a vizsla puppy. I am confident that Cathy did what she believed was best and legal in the situation. We purchased a puppy from Cathy's March 2011 litter and we could not be more thrilled with the service we received from Cathy both before and after bringing our puppy home. And our dog is constantly complimented by strangers as being beautiful, intelligent, and good natured. Cathy has been so supportive and clearly loves her dogs. That's probably what led to this confusion - I can imagine that in light of this man's flagrant willingness to abandon his dog when it was suitable for his purposes led to some confusion about who was the rightful owner and what was in the best interest of the dog. I also just think if you read this man's comments all over, they are very selfish, one-sided, and vindictive. I hope anyone looking for a vizsla will take to heart that while one man has had a contract dispute with Cathy, many others have been willing to stand up to say how wonderful they think she and her dogs are.

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Lisa O.
Burlington, CA
Jun 02, 2011 2:46 pm EDT

Hello again,

I would just like to point out that no-one has attacked your family, we've only been standing in support of Cathy. She's an ethical, conscientious, caring person and has only acted in what she genuinely felt to be the best interest of a puppy she was responsible for bringing into this world. Her decision was concerned with Rally's welfare, not with hurting you or your family. Her supporters admire her integrity and determination to do what she believed to be the right thing. At no time has she attacked you or your family or tried to undermine your reputation. Also, you suggested on another forum that she had requested people to respond to you instead of responding personally. This simply isn't true. All one needs to do is type in Sienna Pointe Vizslas and up come numerous complaints filed on numerous complaint boards by you and your family. Naturally the many people who know Cathy personally and share their homes with her wonderful Vizslas feel the need to support her and attempt to mitigate any damage that you and your family have attempted to inflict on her reputation (in a very concerted, public fashion). Fortunately she is very well respected within the Vizsla community and by her other puppy owners and we continue to stand behind her.

Sincerely,

Lisa O

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Steve Bellefontaine
Algonquin, US
Jan 02, 2011 4:48 am EST

We have had Rally back since August. He is very happy to be back with his family. A jury of all dog owners returned a verdict in 20 minutes and found that not only had we not breached the contract as Cathy had alleged but we were his owners. We want to thank our neighbors and friends and especially Doug Milliron of Free Spirit Doggy Day Care for supporting us through this two year ordeal. Justice prevailed in this situation. For those of you that contributed to this forum and attacked my family I am sure you will put on some sort of positive spin to justify the unanimous result of a jury. We were truthful and in the end we got our precious dog back. THe look on my kids faces when they saw their dog after two long years amde all this worth it.

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Lisa O.
Burlington, CA
Apr 28, 2009 9:56 pm EDT

Hello,

This individual has been posting complaints regarding this breeder (outstanding, highly respected, ethical breeder) on various complaint forums. This is only one side of the story. Ask yourself this, does it make sense?
Numerous Sienna Pointe Vizsla owners have come forward in support of this breeder, to stand behind their well deserved outstanding reputation in other forums. I am one of many people who would recommend Sienna Pointe Vizsla's to any person seeking a wonderful canine companion from an ethical breeder with a lifelong commitment to the well being of the puppies they have produced.

Sincerely,

Lisa O.